If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Re: Candles for heat

Isn't it worth a little more than an extra £1 per week, to have the convenience of radiator heat?

Be careful with the candles, please. Unattended candles have caused a lot of fires. I don't know if you have any pets which are up-and-about, such as a cat or a dog, but if you do, I'd say that candles are a very, VERY bad and dangerous idea.

BOSS: I'm sorry, but I'll have to lay you and Jack off.
SUE: Can you just jack off? I feel like shit today.

"I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do, because I notice it always coincides with their own desires" - Susan B. Anthony

If Mary gave birth to Jesus, and Jesus is the Lamb of God, did Mary have a little lamb?

Re: Candles for heat

Do what I do: fleece sheets and comforter, fleece pants (flannel works well also) and wool socks. It is paramount that you have a fleece fitted sheet on your bed. I also have a polartec blanket to do whatever with too.

Re: Candles for heat

Originally Posted by mitchymo

My local council has made consultations, they are aware of heating difficulties in their high-rise housing stock. So far they have added draft strips on the bottom of the main doors and letterbox (which is damn annoying for postmen lol). The windows really need to be looked at next cos there are these paper-thin gaps under the ledges that actually whistle when its windy outside.

Take some old t-shirts or something, roll them up, and shove them against those gaps. Even that can make a difference.

Re: Candles for heat

You indicate there are gaps under the window. Buy the cheapest caulk you can find and run a bead around the windows. Smooth it out with your finger - an old plastic bag works as a makeshift glove. Then, put plastic over it. This will stop most of the cold air from coming in. You will notice a dramatic increase in your flat's ability to retain heat.

Seeing as the council is aware of the window problem, are they not willing to offset the additional cost? There has to be some scheme out there that can help with heat in the winter. I'm not familiar with programmes available, but I imagine the utility companies have some ways of working with those having trouble meeting their bills.

Check on your electric rates. Maybe for that two quid you'd be spending on candles, you may be able to run an electric radiator for a bit instead.

If you're allowed, perhaps an old wood-burning stove could work. I'm not sure where you'd put the flue, though. On the upside, you could burn stuff you found around the estate. Bits of wood, tightly-rolled newsprint, etc.

Give a man a fish, he'll eat for a day.
Give a man religion, and he'll starve praying for a fish.

Re: Candles for heat

For a house. My mom's apartment is $40 (£25) for electric, but heat is included in the rent. Actually, heat is pretty much always included in the rent. It isn't like an "optional extra" here. Even if a person were willing to bundle up and endure the cold, you just couldn't. The pipes would freeze so the heat has to stay on.

Americans need to keep their guns so they can protect themselves from gun violence just like Nancy Lanza did. And like Chris Kyle did. And like Gabby Giffords did. And like Tom Clements did. And like Michael Piemonte. And Joseph Wilcox.

Re: Candles for heat

whats wrong with getting a space heater??? they're cheap and really warm up a room.

Same problem; you have to plug them in to run them, which costs money. Same thing as an electric radiator anyway.

Americans need to keep their guns so they can protect themselves from gun violence just like Nancy Lanza did. And like Chris Kyle did. And like Gabby Giffords did. And like Tom Clements did. And like Michael Piemonte. And Joseph Wilcox.

Re: Candles for heat

Originally Posted by looseliam

You indicate there are gaps under the window. Buy the cheapest caulk you can find and run a bead around the windows. Smooth it out with your finger - an old plastic bag works as a makeshift glove. Then, put plastic over it. This will stop most of the cold air from coming in. You will notice a dramatic increase in your flat's ability to retain heat.

Seeing as the council is aware of the window problem, are they not willing to offset the additional cost? There has to be some scheme out there that can help with heat in the winter. I'm not familiar with programmes available, but I imagine the utility companies have some ways of working with those having trouble meeting their bills.

Check on your electric rates. Maybe for that two quid you'd be spending on candles, you may be able to run an electric radiator for a bit instead.

If you're allowed, perhaps an old wood-burning stove could work. I'm not sure where you'd put the flue, though. On the upside, you could burn stuff you found around the estate. Bits of wood, tightly-rolled newsprint, etc.

Carbon monoxide poisoning is a very real danger here, unless his windows are really as loose as you are.

Re: Candles for heat

Originally Posted by mitchymo

My local council has made consultations, they are aware of heating difficulties in their high-rise housing stock. So far they have added draft strips on the bottom of the main doors and letterbox (which is damn annoying for postmen lol). The windows really need to be looked at next cos there are these paper-thin gaps under the ledges that actually whistle when its windy outside.

Dude just spend a few bucks on window insulation... your bill will drop significantly and you can then use the heater... these kits go on with juts a hair dryer for a tool....

Re: Candles for heat

Originally Posted by Harke the Boeotarch

Carbon monoxide poisoning is a very real danger here, unless his windows are really as loose as you are.

What is the source of the CO?

Americans need to keep their guns so they can protect themselves from gun violence just like Nancy Lanza did. And like Chris Kyle did. And like Gabby Giffords did. And like Tom Clements did. And like Michael Piemonte. And Joseph Wilcox.

There's also mylar sheeting that can be stapled or taped on. It doesn't seal quite as thoroughly, but still helps. I lived in a trailer as a kid and one of my chores was sealing up the windows at the start of winter.

Re: Candles for heat

Some of the antique wood stoves weren't completely airtight, so if/when the wood burned imperfectly, and if the chimney didn't work as it should have, carbon monoxide fumes were emitted into the room.

I would not have thought it possible to find a wood stove in a flat.

Americans need to keep their guns so they can protect themselves from gun violence just like Nancy Lanza did. And like Chris Kyle did. And like Gabby Giffords did. And like Tom Clements did. And like Michael Piemonte. And Joseph Wilcox.

Re: Candles for heat

Do you have hot running water in your flat? If it's scolding to touch, you might like to fill up empty 2ltr drinks bottles with them and use it as a bed warmer. I used to do this with my mum, but I'd either wrap them in a towel first, or pull a sock over the bottle so it wouldn't scold. With smaller pop bottles 500ml or less, you can fill these up as hand warmers.

After mum's stroke, her circulation wasn't so good so her extremities, hands and feet would sometimes be cold. It was a great and cheap way to keep warm. You could save the water for whatever you need later, say empty to wash stuff, or put in a bucket to flush the loo.

Re: Candles for heat

.. i could apply for a working tax credit, which cuts my tax contributions. I'm not happy about that tho. I shouldn't have to pay less in tax, when that money helps those poorer than me ...

Don't be a mug Mitch. If you're entitled to Tax Credits, claim 'em. Those poorer than you will be claiming for everything under the sun and you shouldn't feel that you have to hold back so they can have even more.

Re: Candles for heat

Originally Posted by mitchymo

I know. But it doesn't make sense to me. If i (and everyone else in my boat) claims tax credit, the government loses revenue, and what will it do? Raise taxes, raise VAT, that would cancel out the gain.
Is there not something just a bit wrong that workers should be reliant on benefits?

In other threads you've argued that your rent should be free, leaving the taxpayer to pick up the bill. As soon as there's something you can actually claim, you turn arse about face and say that you don't want to be subsidised by the taxpayer after all.

Re: Candles for heat

How are the prospects for a higher-paying job?

Americans need to keep their guns so they can protect themselves from gun violence just like Nancy Lanza did. And like Chris Kyle did. And like Gabby Giffords did. And like Tom Clements did. And like Michael Piemonte. And Joseph Wilcox.

Re: Candles for heat

Mitchy, claim what you are due. Government departments are given a yearly budget. Each department will make sure they use that budget, otherwise it gets cut the following year. If people are not claiming what is due to them, government will make sure that it spends it for them. Members of Parliament are never slow in claiming what is due to them.

Re: Candles for heat

Originally Posted by mitchymo

There are none as yet. For an unskilled worker, my employer actually pays one of the better rates around. And they make you feel appreciated, especially at xmas. The store i work in is not large enough to take a step up the ladder either, i could only consider that if my immediate boss left, but i don't want her to, she's cool.

That's alright then. Any training schemes available?

Americans need to keep their guns so they can protect themselves from gun violence just like Nancy Lanza did. And like Chris Kyle did. And like Gabby Giffords did. And like Tom Clements did. And like Michael Piemonte. And Joseph Wilcox.

Re: Candles for heat

Originally Posted by mitchymo

Hmmm, probably the deadly sin i am most guilty of. I look back at the times i HAVE took help (or asked), and feel shame. That can't be a good thing.

Tax Credits aren't help in that sense and certainly aren't shameful. They're part of the mechanism the state has set up to determine your tax liability and mine. Don't look on them any differently to your Personal Allowance.

Re: Candles for heat

Originally Posted by Hard-up1

My basis of comparison is that American and England had comparable standards of living.

England's standard of living is a lot lower than for people in, say, the Netherlands or Germany.
I don't know America well, but a friends mother had traveled there from her home in NY in the eighties and said she was appalled at the poor living conditions she encountered there.

Originally Posted by Kahaih

Is it safe to assume that you have free Internet?

Internet is not a luxury in 2012's crisis-stricken Europe.

Originally Posted by mitchymo

I should have a wage that matches the cost of basic living. Either employers are made to pay more, or government brings down the cost of housing to an affordable level. The rent is the killer in the wage packet, almost 45% of gross income.

That's the evilness inherent in this particular kind of capitalism.

Normal wages do not give you enough money to rent decent housing space at market prices. You have to rent council housing which is presented as some sort of charity towards people with low incomes, when it could just as easily be seen as government sponsoring of stingy employers.

Re: Candles for heat

The point is, Harke, a candle seems inapt for home heating and better suited only to decorating and creating ambiance, due to the smallness of the flame and the relative vastness of the space to be heated.

Americans need to keep their guns so they can protect themselves from gun violence just like Nancy Lanza did. And like Chris Kyle did. And like Gabby Giffords did. And like Tom Clements did. And like Michael Piemonte. And Joseph Wilcox.

Re: Candles for heat

Originally Posted by bankside

The point is, Harke, a candle seems inapt for home heating and better suited only to decorating and creating ambiance, due to the smallness of the flame and the relative vastness of the space to be heated.

The relative vastness of British council housing is vastly overrated by vast Americans with vast asses.

Not to mention, if it is any help to you in your drive and motivation to quit, that you will have UNCONDITIONAL best wishes and support from some people here - myself, and many others (including, in all probability, an unknown number of lurkers who you'll never see).

Then, you CAN do yourself the favour of no longer worrying about shivering through an entire winter. You're putting your own health at risk by using some of your own calories to fight off being too cold, rather than using those calories for proper metabolism without the physical stress.

I assume you put at least a small value on your TIME and, if the cold flat is costing you some chances to be more efficient in what you're doing, a "cost" must be assigned to that.

I'm worried about you.

BOSS: I'm sorry, but I'll have to lay you and Jack off.
SUE: Can you just jack off? I feel like shit today.

"I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do, because I notice it always coincides with their own desires" - Susan B. Anthony

If Mary gave birth to Jesus, and Jesus is the Lamb of God, did Mary have a little lamb?

Re: Candles for heat

IF you really WANT to quit ask your doctor about a scrip for bupropion.
I'm taking it right now.......again.
I quit smoking for 2 1/2 years and like a dumbass started again.......
An unexpected side effect MAY be an increased libdo........ ....... http://www.bupropion.com/wonderwell/index.html
Outside of the above mentioned possible libido enhancing property of bupropion I experienced zero negative side effects.